Oct. 22 Parent Letter

Dear Parents,

Let me open by saying this, we are so encouraged by what we see God doing in and around ESM this year! Thank you for allowing your student to be a part of it and for being part of it yourself. Here is a quick update on what we've been up to and what we have coming up.

Upcoming at Elevate

·         Oct. 26 - Fall Festival 
      Come on out and join us for our annual Fall Festival. Come participate, volunteer, or even bring a friend. No matter how you do it you are definitely want to take part in this family event! 

·         Oct. 28 - Y.E.S. - 6:00 PM - 7:00 PM

      Please join us for our Youth Emphasis Service as ESM takes over the evening service at FBCNPR. Our students will be sharing through music and drama, and Pastor Josiah will be speaking. We also have a special surprise for those that make it out. You won't want to miss it! 

·        Oct. 30 - GROW - 6:00 PM - 8:00 PM  - SCHEDULE CHANGE

      GROW is a great time for your student to get involved with outreach. Once a month we have the opportunity to follow up with recent visitors to our church. Students can call, write cards, or ever go out an visit recent church guests, especially guests that are around their age! We will have adults accompanying the teens for all of the events they participate in on GROW nights, and all ESM students are welcome to join, as are their parents! 
      PLEASE NOTE THIS IS A DIFFERENT DATE THAN ORIGINALLY PROVIDED ON YOUR CALENDAR AT THE BEGINNING OF THE YEAR

      For more information about upcoming activities please see our Facebook events tab or our calendar.

Elevate Sunday

What an amazing journey your teenager is on as we go through the big-picture story of the Bible week-by-week, and see the way God threads His plan of redemption through the lives of His people.

This week’s lesson included the story of the Exodus, when the Israelites escaped captivity from Egypt and were finally delivered when God miraculously parted the Red Sea. Remember that we are doing more than recounting great Bible stories; we are helping your student connect God’s purpose, His plan, and His love from Genesis all the way to the Book of the Revelation.

We looked at the following Scripture passages:

·         Exodus 13:17-22

·         Exodus 14

·         Romans 5:6-8

Next Steps . . .

To help you better understand what your teenager is learning, and to lead them not only to remember but connect what they’ve learned to daily life, consider the following over the next week.

·         Read Exodus chapters 13 and 14 to better understand the context of what your teenager was taught in the last lesson.

·         Ask your teenager why the crossing of the Red Sea was such a big deal.

·         Take some time to recall your own experience of how God saved you, and allow your teenager to talk about his/her salvation experience. If your teenager has never accepted Christ, pray that God will continue to lead him/her to make that decision.

Elevate Wednesday

We wanted to make you aware that we will not be having Elevate on October 31st. There will still be dinner and adult bible study/prayer in the auditorium for those that wish to attend. This change in student schedule is because as a church, we thought it was important to give families that day to take advantage of the opportunities availed to them in loving on and reaching their neighbors if they so choose. We wanted them to be able to do so without having to feel like they have to choose between reaching out to their neighbors and attending a church event. For that reason, we will not be having Student or Children's programming that night. If you are a home that hands out candy we would encourage you to pick up some 'Jesus Film' DVD's and tracts to go along with your candy. Plus, if you do plan on handing out evangelistic material we encourage you to have the best candy you can to go with it! We highly encourage you to get your students involved in this family project. This can be a great way to show them how to look for creative ways to share about Jesus. 

Last week our very own Josh Noak shared a message on Acts 12-14 as part of our Acts series. We should be making our way through Acts from now until years end. 

We are really excited to see more and more students get involved. God has given some wonderful gifts to our teens, please continue to encourage your teen to find a place to use their talent for God at FBCNPR. Elevate can be a great place to start that!

Please don't be a stranger and come on up and visit us any time. If you don't know who your student's small group leader is, we would really encourage you to try and make that connection. Small group leaders are key in how we do ministry at Elevate. We are confident that developing a relationship of prayer and encouragement between you and your student's small group leader will prove a great blessing. 

Please know that we are praying for you as a parent and that we are here to help you in any way we can!